A Friend, a Parent and Mission Presidents

Serving together forms bonds between people that draw them closer together that last for years. These bonds are typically found in fellow soldiers.  I have not served in war or even in the military; So I cannot understand or even fathom the bond that these soldiers feel one with another. But this last week I got a small glimpse of that feeling form the bonds I have created in serving with others in my church.

A Friend

I had the opportunity to serve with Loren Dalton, (Now President Dalton) in Tracy, California over 20 years ago. There I served as an Elder's Quorum President for the newly called Bishop Dalton. 

A Mormon Bishop is a volunteer position in the Church that is in charge of a congregation of about 300 church members. They are responsible for the spiritual and physical needs of the congregation. An Elder's quorum president works with the Bishop as well as others and is focused on families whose parents are typically between the age of 18 - 45 to 50 years old. 

So back to my story. A worked with Bishop Dalton for about 2 years and enjoyed the friendship that we built working together. Recently I was traveling in Sao Paulo Brazil and found out that Bishop Dalton had been called to be a Mission President in Sao Paulo Interlagos Mission. 

Mission Presidents are asked to serve for 3 years. During the 3 years they take their families and leave behind work and their livelihoods and live in the mission. Mission Presidents are in charge of about 200 missionaries in a geographical area.

It was great meeting with President Dalton and his wife, and after 20 years we had a lot of catching up to do. We talked about kids, families, careers and the ups and downs of life. I was most excited to hear what mission life was like and we talked about how their mission has changed their lives and strengthened their testimonies of Christ and his work. It was great to spend an evening with them. I was impressed at how much the Dalton's cared for their missionaries in the mission. They helped their missionaries through tough times at home, person trials and triumphs during their missions. 

This was somewhat self serving for me because my son Jacob was called to serve in that same mission starting in June. The Dalton's will be leaving before Jacob actually arrives in the mission :(.

In part of our conversation President Dalton asked me who my mission president was 28 years ago when I served in Brazil. I mentioned it was President Paulo Grahl. To my surprise he knew President Grahl and told me he was serving as the President of the Mission Training Center in Sao Paulo. He told me I had to go see him.

A Parent

It might be strange for people that have not served a mission to understand the strong bond that missionaries have with their mission presidents. As a missionary you write a weekly letter to the president of the mission telling them how things are going. Some weeks the letters are just complaining about the work other weeks sharing great experiences. This is your direct line to the president. Additional about every 2-3 months you get to have a 1 on 1 interview with the president to talk about things going on in the mission. The President and his wife quickly become the your leaders/parents for those two years. It is a special bond. One that, as I would soon find out, last a life time.

I took President Dalton's advise and went to the MTC to visit President and Sister Grahl. My missionary parents from almost 30 years ago. When I arrived at the MTC I did not realize, something I would find out later, that this was the day that new missionaries arrived to start their 6 week training in Sao Paulo. So President Grahl was busy working with these new missionaries. I patiently waited for outside of the gates of the MTC to see if they would let me in. About 20 minutes later, a slightly grayer, slightly heavier, man walked out of the MTC. We recognized each other immediately and almost like a scene from a movie we ran up and gave each other a big hug.

I was quickly transported to 28 years earlier when this great man hugged me for the first time, a lost and confused missionary in the Brasilia Brasil airport after a 15 hour trip from California to Brazil to start my mission. All of the feelings of two years of working with this great man came back. The shared experiences, the good and the bad. His great big bear hug is what transported my so quickly back. It was a strong loving hug that a parent gives to a child after years of being away.

I felt like I needed to give him a report about my life, my family, my career, my service in the church. I wanted him to be proud of me. The good kind of proud. We got to talk briefly about our mission time together and I got a great tour of the MTC. Again self serving because Jacob would be living in the MTC in Sao Paulo for about 6 weeks while he is learning Portuguese. I mentioned this to President Grahl and he was excited to have one of his "Filhos" have a child server under him. The first from the United States that would be serving in Sao Paulo.

Next President Grahl surprised Sister Grahl who at the time was talking to the new missionaries about what she always talked to us about. Cleanliness and Obedience. Brings back memories of several missionary conferences where she taught us the importance of having clean apartments and keeping the mission rules.  She took about 30 seconds and remembered my name. I was floored. I could not imagine that someone would remember me so well even after white hair and about 60 lbs. What a great couple of hours I got to spend with my Mission Mom and Dad.

Mission Presidents

Many people don't really understand the value that a mission president has on the lives of the Elders and Sisters that server under them. This last week I got a small glimpse into what Mission Presidents do and the impact they have had on my life. I cannot wait for my son Jacob to form those kind of lasting bonds with his mission president in the next couple of years.

DWP

Revisiting a Ward in Sao Paulo

Another week of travel another visit to another church in a foreign land. This time I had the
opportunity to attend church in a ward I visited just under two years ago in Sao Paulo. (Indianapolis Ward). The ward has grown quite a bit and there were some people that actually remembered me. It was fun to see how the ward has changed and to talk to people that remembered me.

Like every time I visit I noticed that everything is very much the same and different. First it was great to hear the hymns in Portuguese again. Brought back memories of my mission and how I played the piano (not very well) in many of my areas because no one else could play. When the sacrament meeting started about 1/3 of the seats were filled. By the end of Sacrament meeting it was filled. This brought back memories as well. :) Another thing I noticed was I was the
only one with white hair. (insert old man jokes here.) This reminded me of toward the end of my mission when my parents came to pick me up I was surprise at how fair skinned they were and my mom's blond hair really stood out. I guess I had not looked in a mirror for two years.

This trip has more meaning this year because my son was just called to serve his mission in this part of the world. This ward is in his mission (a geographical area that missionaries serve). I talked to some of the other missionaries that are here and got a feel for the area. Tips of the trade to pass on to Jacob.

After Church I headed over to the Sao Paulo Interlagos Mission Home. This is the central office for the mission and I took some pictures and a couple of videos to share with my son Jacob. I ran into a couple more people that work in the mission office. Brother and Sister Loveless. They work in the office a handle logistics and care and feeding of the missionaries. They knew that Jacob was coming and even told me the date that he was going to arrive Aug 8th, after spending 6 weeks in the Mission Training Center in a different part of Sao Paulo (about 45 minutes away).

There is a Stake building next to the mission office so I went inside to see what it was like and talk to more missionaries. When I walked in I could hear the primary children singing. It was a beautiful sound and reminded me of my primary class I team teach with my wife every Sunday. I miss those kids this week. I also found a bulleten board that listed the missionaries from the stake. They had missionaries serving all over the world. Including the US, Europe, Central and South America. I sometimes forget that other parents in other countries are missing their children as they serve in other countries as well.

I look forward to hearing weekly from Jacob when he is on his mission and to see the pictures of this beautiful place.

DWP

Check out my videos from Sao Paulo Here